A new study reports that people who vape or use e-cigarettes are much more likely to develop heart failure compared with individuals who have never used them.
The findings, presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual scientific session, highlight a new link between vaping and heart failure.
Vaping Raises Heart Failure Odds by Nearly 20 Percent
The research team found the link after analyzing data from surveys and electronic health records in a large national study conducted by the National Institutes of Health titled “All of Us.” The data included information from more than 175,000 participants who were an average of 52 years old, with about 60.5 percent being female. Of those in the sample, 3,242 participants developed heart failure with a median follow-up time of 45 months.The results indicate that those who used e-cigarettes at any point were 19 percent more likely to develop heart failure compared with those who had not used them. The research team found that the participants’ age, sex, or current smoking status had no effect on their likelihood of developing heart disease.
The team also found that vaping was more common among those with a type of heart failure that occurs with preserved ejection fraction. This type of heart failure occurs when the heart muscle becomes stiff or rigid and fails to fill properly with blood in between contractions.
The new study builds upon previous research, which has also shown links between e-cigarette use and risks associated with developing heart failure. However, this is the first study to successfully establish a direct link between e-cigarette use and vaping. Previous studies have failed because of small sample sizes, according to Dr. Bene-Alhasan.
Underage Vaping Soars as Long-Term Risks Remain Unknown
Nearly one in 20 U.S. adults use e-cigarettes, and one in three of those users vape daily, according to the American College of Cardiology. Half of those users are younger than 35. More and more younger Americans have turned to vaping, with more than one in five high school students using e-cigarettes regularly. More than 2.8 million, or 10 percent, of U.S. middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes, with 89.4 percent of those youths using flavored e-cigarettes, according to the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey.E-cigarettes have been touted as a safer alternative to tobacco, but they still contain nicotine and other highly addictive substances, which are sometimes modified, especially if the e-cigarette is bought off the street, according to the American College of Cardiology.
These modifications have been linked to higher rates of lung injury. Long-term effects are still unknown because the products have been available on the market for only about a decade, but e-cigarette use has been linked to serious lung damage, illness, and even some deaths in more than 30 states.
